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My wife and I are very strongly interested in immigrating to one of the maritime provinces in Canada. We plan on taking a holiday sometime during the year to drive through New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. We love the idea of being in a forested hilly area that isn't too far from the sea.
I am 32 and she is 27. We have a 7-year-old autistic son and are thinking about having another child in the next year. She has a university degree (Bachelor of Arts in Interactive Multimedia Design) and I do not. She has studied french for 8 years and lived in France for a six-month exchange student program. I studied french for two years in high school and know most of the exchanges in a Berlitz phrasebook but no real grasp of the language, but I am open to further study.
Just now I took the points test and I scored a 63 as the primary taker and she scored a 70 as the primary taker. This was with no offer of employment, which I understand would add another 10 points.
We will (hopefully) sell our house in the US in Spring 2012 and (again hopefully) have around US$25,000 in savings/profit from the sale around that time. We would love to find offers of employment and be established as Permanent Residents during 2012 if possible.
Her trade is graphic design and she has 5+ years of experience in that field, but with the recent economic difficulties in the US she has not been successful in finding graphic design work and has spent the last year and a half working as a telephone customer service associate in a call center. I have a mix of retail management and accounting clerk experience. We're both hoping to establish small businesses while in the US that can move with us to Canada; for her this is a wedding invitation business and I am trying to get into organic farming. Our goal is to find a nice small town with affordable farmland within an hour of a city that needs graphic design/accounting clerks. After a year or two in Canada we'd like to buy a 25-50 acre parcel of land, build a small house, and continue to commute to the city until we are established in one or more cottage enterprises.
From my initial research, we very much like the communities around Moncton, NB and Cape Breton, NS.
Here are my questions:
1. Since neither of us have desired skills as per the immigration guidelines, would it be in my favor to attempt to gain one of these skills and the year of employment in that field prior to our intended arrival in Canada? I am interested in learning to weld (that would be a handy skill on a farm) and can perhaps take a paycut and work as a welder for a year prior to moving to Canada. One of sought professions is "Cook". Could I get a part-time job as a short order cook at a night diner and use that as my "skilled trade"?
2. Since we desire to live in a rural area and not in a larger city, I'm curious if smaller schools will have resources to aid with our son's autism, ADHD, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.
3. From what I understand as soon as we achieve PI status our children would be entitled to public schooling and healthcare, is that correct?
4. Does anyone know much about how family farmers are treated in Canada? In the US, laws are written very much in favor of large corporations and hinder family farmers. Furthermore, most farming is of one large commodity crop/animal such as corn, soybeans, beef, etc. and it is difficult for a small farmer to sell not only crops and animals, but also value added products such as jams and jellies, sausage made from farm animals, etc.
5. When we first acquire land we plan on building a yurt, which is a type of semi-permanent tent built on a wooden floor and can be used to live comfortably in harsh winters. Will this be a nightmare to be approved by the local government?
6. In general my wife and I want to use renewable/environmentally friendly options to meet our needs. When we acquire land we plan on digging a well, using solar/wind/hydro power, etc. In the US there are sometimes tax credits you can get for using such technologies as they lessen the burden placed on public utilities. What is the general Canadian viewpoint on these techonologies or does it vary by region.
Thank you for your time in reading this (very long) post. I look forward to answers to my questions and to any other constructive criticism.
Employment requirements (cook)
►Completion of secondary school is usually required.
►Completion of a three-year apprenticeship program for cooks or
Completion of college or other program in cooking or
Several years of commercial cooking experience are required.
Wish you best of luck on your immigration..Plenty of areas that fit your description.
I'd scrap the idea of the Yurt until you are more familiar with the area you end up in and its zoning and ordinances and experience a Canadian winter.
Mobile home or inexpensive rental maybe the way to start.
Cities to scope out?
NB
Edmonston
Frderckton
St John
NS
Truro
Digby
Yarmouth
Halifax
Sydney
Nfld
St Johns area
I am going to suggest the Moncton area as being the best option, with Saint John a close second.
Edmundston is VERY francophone - and I do not get the impression from the OP that they are fluently bilingual. No point whatsoever in even considering Edmundston.
Fredericton, as a government city also frequently recruits bilingual only. It is also one of the most expensive places to live in NB. The OP has $25G and is talking about living in a yurt. Fredericton? Uh, no.
NS is lovely, but places like Truro, Digby, Yarmouth and Sydney have very high unemployment rates. Not great choices.
Halifax has one of the highest costs of living compared to average salary in Canada. Another poor choice.
St Johns, NL has high unemployment as well. Gorgeous place, but if work is the goal, not a good option.
Being an immigrant myself, I can tell you with certitude that the last thing a couple of immigrants want to do is move to a place where there is high unemployment, and take a job "away" from a Canadian. It isn't very condusive to making friends.
The greater Moncton area is the best option. It has a healthy economy, lots of environmentalists and granola types - excellent farmers markets, lots of farming fmailies (not solely big factory farms). From what I have read, a yurt in NB is considered a temporary dwelling (like a tent) and requires no building permit. Google yurk and "new brunswick, canada" to bring up more info. Wind and solar power is not out of place anywhere in Canada.
The greater Moncton area is also an excellent location to continue using French if you want to and/or to build on it - there are tons of evening courses and the area is quite bilingual.
There is an excellent network of schools and good support for special needs children.
sunshineleith, thank you so much for the detailed information!
From what research we've done, we think Moncton is a wonderful area. We like what we've read about the city's diverse economy, proximity to Parlee Beach, the francophone city of Dieppe nearby, Magnetic Hill and the associated themeparks etc. We've even found a realtor selling lots of 25 acres+ in Kent County that is really reasonable. We plan on vacationing in Moncton for a few days and seeing what the city is like later in the year and hopefully getting to see Great Big Sea in concert; they've been my favorite band for over a decade.
My wife could be fluently bilingual after a few months and I would welcome the challenge of functioning in a non-English environment so we're not put off by that.
Good to hear that there are lots of "crunchy granola" types in the Moncton area. When we have our second child in the next year or so we plan on going through a midwife, having a home birth, etc.
Yes, yurts are generally considered temporary dwellings here in the US as well. My wife and I have had enough of mortgages, car loans, and other types of credit and will be completely debt-free by the time we sell our house next year. We don't ever want to take out a loan again and would rather live in a yurt for a couple of years while saving up for our home. We'll also have a low six-figure inheritance coming sometime in the next few years and that will probably finish the house fund.
When we visit Moncton this year we'd like to also visit prospective employers and let them know of our desire to move into the area and become a part of the community; not just as American fleeing the US and wanting to make a little America in Canada.
Does anyone know of a good church directory for the Moncton area? I'm Eastern Orthodox and having a hard time finding an Orthodox Church in Moncton even though I saw a brief mention of one in a farmer's market review. I don't care if it's Greek, Russian, Ethiopian, etc.
If you want to fit into any Canadian community i'd drop that idea of a little America in Canada.
Or a least expand on your meaning.
I mean we're *not* trying to be the type of immigrant who doesn't try to fit in and just "be an American in Canada". We already celebrate Boxing Day, sing the Canadian national anthem and drink Labatts. Sorry if I was unclear.
sunshineleith, thank you so much for the detailed information!
From what research we've done, we think Moncton is a wonderful area. We like what we've read about the city's diverse economy, proximity to Parlee Beach, the francophone city of Dieppe nearby, Magnetic Hill and the associated themeparks etc. We've even found a realtor selling lots of 25 acres+ in Kent County that is really reasonable. We plan on vacationing in Moncton for a few days and seeing what the city is like later in the year and hopefully getting to see Great Big Sea in concert; they've been my favorite band for over a decade.
My wife could be fluently bilingual after a few months and I would welcome the challenge of functioning in a non-English environment so we're not put off by that.
Good to hear that there are lots of "crunchy granola" types in the Moncton area. When we have our second child in the next year or so we plan on going through a midwife, having a home birth, etc.
Yes, yurts are generally considered temporary dwellings here in the US as well. My wife and I have had enough of mortgages, car loans, and other types of credit and will be completely debt-free by the time we sell our house next year. We don't ever want to take out a loan again and would rather live in a yurt for a couple of years while saving up for our home. We'll also have a low six-figure inheritance coming sometime in the next few years and that will probably finish the house fund.
When we visit Moncton this year we'd like to also visit prospective employers and let them know of our desire to move into the area and become a part of the community; not just as American fleeing the US and wanting to make a little America in Canada.
Does anyone know of a good church directory for the Moncton area? I'm Eastern Orthodox and having a hard time finding an Orthodox Church in Moncton even though I saw a brief mention of one in a farmer's market review. I don't care if it's Greek, Russian, Ethiopian, etc.
I actually tried that. The phone number goes to an Anglican Church and I haven't received an email back yet. I'm assuming they were renting space from the Anglican Church at the time of the article. Thanks for your help!
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